


Family Reunion

by ailixandrite2dot0 (AILiSeki)



Series: Promtober 2020 [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Rose Quartz came back AU (SU)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:01:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26804794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AILiSeki/pseuds/ailixandrite2dot0
Summary: Day 3 of Promptober by steven-universe-au-prompts: gem ocEy-One meets Rose Quartz
Relationships: Rose Quartz & Original Character(s) (Steven Universe)
Series: Promtober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953256
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Family Reunion

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Not the Only One](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24154972) by [ailixandrite2dot0 (AILiSeki)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AILiSeki/pseuds/ailixandrite2dot0). 



> Ey-One is my gem hybrid OC, protagonist of “Not the Only One”. She is the daughter of a Rose Quartz. Her mother, A10, escaped from being bubbled and lead the Zoo-mans into a small rebellion so she could free the other Rose Quartzes and, long story short, it ended up with everyone in the Zoo being free to do what they wanted as long as Blue Diamond didn’t find out. When Steven goes to the Zoo to rescue his Dad, he meets Ey-One and finds out about all of this, and inspires them to finally move the whole station to Earth, where they settle down in a deserted island.
> 
> Ey-One is about Steven’s age, and is 18 here.

Ey-One was about to step into the warp pad when she heard someone calling her. She turned around, secretly glad for the interruption.

“Are you sure you’re going alone?” 8XJ asked.

“Uh-huh.” Ey-One gave an awkward smile. “I know you’re all _super_ excited about meeting her too, but…”

8XJ rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about us. I just want to know if _you_ are really ready for this.”

“I don’t think Mom was ever ready to start a rebellion in the Zoo,” Ey-One said. “If she could do that, I can do this. It’s not like I am going to a war, you guys.” She looked at the poorly hidden purple and pink shadows behind trees and bushes. “It’s just a talk. She is just curious. Steven said she is cooler than she seems.”

8XJ sighed. “It’s just… never mind.” She stepped forward to hug Ey-One. “Have fun.”

Ey-One rolled her eyes. She looked back one last time before warping to Beach City.

She wasn’t afraid. She had faced scary situations before, situations she hadn’t known if she would survive. There was no reason to be afraid now. She was just… nervous.

Steven’s Mom was back, Ey-One never bothered to ask why or how. She had been around for some months now, mostly avoiding crowded places, never stepping near Little Homeworld. No one in Ey-One’s family had tried to reach out to her, they mostly tried to act as if she wasn’t there, but there was a constant tension in the air. Ey-One knew they would eventually have to face their creator, the reason why they were all there, and ask all the unanswered questions, but gems could be very stubborn, and this time the human side of her family wasn’t any better. So, when Steven mentioned one day that his Mom was curious about Ey-One, she agreed on this meeting.

And there she was, in his living room, looking up at a face that was at the same time so familiar and so strange.

Her initial plan was to play it cool, maybe start with a “what’s up, Granny?” and pretend she wasn’t feeling everything she was feeling. But now that she was there, looking at her, it was too hard.

She - how should Ey-One even call her? - looked just like the portraits she had seen all over the years. The ones in Steven’s house, of course, but also the one her mother showed her in her some of her videos, taken directly from a wanted poster.

Ey-One suddenly wished she had accepted 8XJ’s proposal.

* * *

“You don’t need to stay if you’re uncomfortable,” Rose said, not looking at the girl. The two of them sat side by side on the empty beach.

“No, I am alright.” She replied. “It’s just…”

Rose waited patiently for her to finish.

“Mother used to really look up to you.”

“I thought you hadn’t…” She trailed off.

“I haven’t.” The girl said. “She left me videos. So it’s almost as if I know her, even if I don’t.”

Rose nodded. How she wished she could have been able to leave more than just a single tape for Steven.

“Were you disappointed when you learned the truth about me?”

“Yes.” The girl said, bluntly.

Rose was thankful for her honesty. Of the few gems she met again so far, most still insisted she hadn’t hurt them, when it was clear she did. She wondered what the girl’s mother would have said.

“I mean, you did all the things she told me about, but- you also-“ She took a deep breath. “You left us all behind. Well, not me, I didn’t even exist back then- but-“

“Girl.” Rose gently interrupted her. She understood her.

“Ey-One. My name is Ey-One.”

That was more of a label than a name. Rose knew how the Zoo worked - used to work, before Rose Quartz A10 changed everything. “You should have a real name.”

“It is a real name.” She answered, sounding a bit offended. “It’s not an Earth name, but I’m not from Earth either.”

Rose felt the pain of guilt. “I never meant for-“

“Yeah, I heard about it.” Ey-One interrupted her. “Really, the Zoo sucked. But I am alright with having been born there. Most of us are.”

That didn’t sound right, yet as Ey-One didn’t hold back from saying how she truly felt so far, it made no sense for it to be a lie.

“How?”

“We never knew any other life. We… we took our hardships for granted. But, it wasn’t only hardships. And we got out, so…”

* * *

Ey-One didn’t feel like she could truly explain. It wasn’t that it didn’t feel bad, but the Zoo never felt like just a prison, even if it was. That place was what brought her family together. It was, for most of her life, home.

“Aren’t you alright with… Homeworld and stuff?”

Steven’s mother was thoughtful. “I am not sure anymore.”

“Well, at least the place where you suffered doesn’t exist anymore.” Ey-One offered.

The gem nodded. “You know, I am amazed by your story. What your mother did, that you exist…”

Ey-One felt her cheeks getting warm. She knew rationally that she was not something that happened every day, but she still could never get used to this sort of attention.

“She had no way of knowing about Steven, my mother. Still, we were both born so close in time and so far in distance…”

“When Steven first told me about Little Homeworld, I still had a few doubts about so many gems living with humans. I thought it would take much more work for it to… work. And all this time, you were making it work over there.”

“I thought you, better than anyone, would know we are not that different.”

“We aren’t.” She nodded. “But gems are…” She trailed off.

“Stubborn.”

“You could say that. We are made with a certain knowledge, and we don’t deal well with anything outside of it.”

“Well, but the world you built for yourselves made it very easy to stick to it. When gems are put in more chaotic situations, they seem to be able to change adapt, just like humans.” Ey-One smiled. “I mean, look at your team.”

Steven’s mother smiled too. “I guess you’re right.”

Ey-One felt some of the tension leaving her. Enough for her to bring up some of her silly ideas.

“You know you’re my Grandma, right?”

“I’m what?” She turned to Ey-One, looking properly at her for the first time since they sat down.

“You made my mother and my mother made me. In human terms, that makes you my Grandma.”

Steven’s mother giggled, and that made all tension left go away. 


End file.
